#ds9 has a weird issue with killing interesting characters | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wisteria-lodge · 4 years ago

Text

lion primary + badger secondary (bird model)

ie A HOUSE MATCH !!

Hellooo, I’m sorry for bothering you but I’ve found this blog and I absolutely love your character analysis and overall thought about the SHC system, and I could use some help?

I’ve known the system for a while now, since the old SHC tumblr times, and while understanding my current primary situation has been quite easy, I’m having A LOT of trouble with my secondary and it’s becoming a bit of a issue for me because the more I think about it, the more confused I become, to the point where it’s upsetting me a bit.

First thing first, my Primary is a very “standard” Lion, the whole “you feel if something is right or not and if you do something that’s not right to you you feel bad/ill/it’s wrong” is extremely me. I had some doubts about a Badger model, but I think it’s just that my personal ideals and values align a lot with a Badger worldview, since I grew in a very Badger society and family (very leftist, a lot of emphasis on equality and valuing and creating communities). Reading various description/interpretations of primary Lion always feels right, while reading primary Badger always makes me think “yeah, this is all good and nice, BUT…” so this was quite easy to sort out (no pun intended).

Are you me? So far... I could have written this. It’s possible I *might* be biased going forward.

When it comes to secondaries, I see a lot of myself in Bird descriptions: I make spreadsheets for everything.

Pretty Bird.

I am a crafter with an apparently endless supply of books and tutorials and supplies ready, and the enthusiasm to share them.

That sounds more Badger.

I am the mom friend

Badger.

who always has what’s needed in their bag.

Bird.

I am that one person you can count on knowing a funny or interesting anecdote about almost any topic, from the mundane to the truly obscure. Learning new things, about any topic, is literally one of my biggest pleasures in life.

Bird [model?] Whichever one isn’t your secondary is a model you clearly love.

I take pride in all these things, but I honestly have trouble understanding if I like using them as tools because they help me with my ADHD and so I received a very strong positive enforcement using them and I kept the ones I like, or if I started doing them because they are what I like doing and coincidentally they help me managing my symptoms or better navigate the world in my day to day life.

Could be either, but modeling Bird because you’re neurodivergent is very much a thing.

Also, while I love planning, when it comes to making decisions I tend to gather all information and summarize it in a way that makes sense to me so I can visualize the issue in my mind as complete and detailed as possible, but the final decision tends to feel a bit… impulsive, to me?, there’s always A LOT of gut feeling involved, and when I don’t follow it usually it ends up being a wrong or subpar decision. I do need to gather all the available information about the issue/situation/item/people, but rather than making my decision by comparison, I use the information to make sure that I’m “seeing” the truth (or as close to it as it is possible) and then once I feel safe that I’m not overlooking anything important I just KNOW what is the correct decision.

That’s a Lion primary making a call.

Could this simply be a very strong primary interfering with the decision-making, even when it’s not about ideals but more mundane things?

Decision making is always a primary thing. Mundane stuff included. Mundane stuff is important.

On the other hand, I am an extremely hard working person (I am changing jobs right now because I feel like my old bosses are making more and more difficult for me to just do my job properly and without needing to cut corners, and it just feels wrong to me).

Oh good lord. I am ready to sort you as a Badger secondary solely on the basis of THAT.

People tell me I’m a very good listener and that I am especially good at helping others unravel their thoughts when they’re all confused and tangled because I ask the right questions. I seem to gain other people’s trust easily and often I get told gossip or secrets before others.

Badger. Also DAMN but that’s relatable. I think you might house-match me.

I got told several times by previous bosses that I should look into becoming a team leader because people like me and I make them get along better.

Sounds like a Lion/Badger combo.

People get attached to me very quickly and when I have problems the stream of folks asking if they can help or just checking in is always way more than I expect.

Isn’t it weird how that happens?

This all sounds like Badger stuff, from the descriptions I read, but many of them are not things I actively enjoy doing, I just.. do them because it would be weird to do otherwise? Or it feels like they happen to me with no effort on my part.

Because they’re just you. It’s just who you are.

I think they might be simply a result of me growing up in a society that values hard work and being kind to others, or just me being a likeable person

Not everyone finds this easy. Not even close. I have read so many testimonials written by people in Badger secondary households killing themselves trying to fit into this model. Wanting isn’t enough. Having examples around you isn’t enough.

or maybe coping mechanisms I had to learn in order to “pass” as neurotypical but as I wrote the more think and read about Birds and Badgers and their differences, the more I get confused and frustrated.

Now I know I’m projecting, but all my neurotypical coping mechanisms come out of the Bird secondary toolbox.

But it would make sense since I burned out badly in my teens from trying to always try to be perfect for my family, my friends, my teachers, society

That sounds like a young Badger secondary, more than a young Bird secondary.

and when I finally found who I really wanted to be I resolved to never let anyone define what or how I should be ever again (hello there, Lion primary!)

I hear that.

After a lifetime of beating myself up for not living up to the absurdly high expectations I set up for myself, I have decided that the only way to stay sane for me is to do the groundwork, be as prepared as I can

Bird

put in the work I should

Badger

but once I’m in the thick of it just… ride the wave. And now I got to the point where I have the confidence that I am smart enough to learn the basics of a new skill on the fly, if needed.

To me, this is so fundamentally, so spiritually Badger secondary. You don’t have tools. You are a tool. You made yourself into one. And that moment where you can just trust yourself to catch the world, absorb it into yourself, and become whatever it needs you to be... it’s ecstasy.

I’d say that lack of time is my worst enemy, but due/thanks to the ADHD that’s not true most of the time, since lack of time is what enables me to get past the executive dysfunction in the first place, so I’ll say I have a love-hate relationship with it. Doing things just before a deadline is it’s own kind of high, after all (I’m not saying it’s healthy).

At the base of your soul, you’re not really a Bird prepper/planner.

A practical example: I usually don’t like platforming games much, but I am LOVING Immortals: Fenyx Rising because in most situations, there is a “best” way to do things but you can also get creative by using different skills, using specific items, finding loopholes, or a combination of all of them.

Sounds like a Bird secondary having fun. [a fun model?]

When I fail a level/combat I don’t get frustrated because I know that I just have to try a few more times until I find the solution that feels right FOR ME, even if it’s not the most efficient ones. And when I do it feels great, even if I look a at guide afterwards and there’s a waaay easier solution! I usually feel a bit silly for not “seeing it” but also think something like “well, I think MY way is more fun!”

Oh yeah, a Bird secondary would not have that reaction. That is the sacred Badger consistency of method. How you do something matters equally as much as the final product.

When I cook, I usually find a recipe I like and try it as written, then I make small adjustments to improve it, see how it turns out, and so on until I have a recipe that is MY recipe, one I really like and that I know well enough to use as a basis to be changed if needed, knowing exactly how the change will affect the end result. I think this is why I prefer baking to other kinds of cooking, since it’s much more akin to chemistry I feel like I have more control over what a change will do.

On it’s own this could be a description of rapid-fire Bird. And you clearly have Bird, you have a lot of it. You love it.

So I guess that what really matters to me is being able to do things my way so that I can enjoy the process and live up to my standards instead of external ones?

But then you say something like this... it’s about the process... it’s about the method... it’s about something coming up to your own personal standards. And that’s so Badger.

This ended up being very lengthy… I’ve tried shortening it but English isn’t my first language and I was afraid I might come across not clearly.

Your English is perfect, and insanely clear. You’re clearer than I am.

Thank you again for the blog, I especially like your DS9 characters’ analysis and I am low-key hoping for more :)

I’m particularly proud of those ones. I’d love to do more, but before that I would have to go back and re-watch the show, or at least key character episodes. I’m not going to sort from memory. That would be doing a show I love, and a number of extremely complex characters a disservice. And it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

(it’s that whole Badger integrity-of-method thing, you know how it goes.)

#sortinghatchats #sortme #wisteria sorts #lion primary #badger secondary #bird model #my lion badger #adhd #submission

32 notes · View notes

chacusha · 4 years ago

Text

Anyway, all my feelings about how Odo's relationship to the Great Link is like Shinji's relationship to Human Instrumentality are inspired by that plot arc that opens season 6 (S6 E01-06). I have a lot of Thoughts about that arc especially as it relates to Odo, his uh Link addiction(??), and Quark: In some ways, I really like a lot of what that arc did and am impressed by the quality of the writing overall but at the same time, I have a list of things that either could have used more exploration or are frustrating aspects of that arc.

Thing I liked: I liked the way that Kira, Odo, and Quark end up unintentionally falling into their old roles during the previous Cardassian occupation of Bajor -- Kira becomes a resistance terrorist; Odo becomes a collaborator/employed by the occupying forces to lend legitimacy to the occupation; Quark mostly tries to stay out of stuff and just keep people entertained, while being willing to commit crimes on the side. I wish their three ways of relating to the occupation got more time to, like, bounce against and contrast with each other. Instead, however, Odo spends most of his time in a drugged up haze, which kind of means the contrast and tension between the three styles doesn't get as much play as it could.

Thing I liked: I liked the exploration of Odo and the female changeling and linking. I thought there was a lot of interesting worldbuilding here; I think Odo's characterization as largely instinct-driven especially when it comes to his people is an interesting part of his character; and I buy that Odo would do this weird thing (including having actual sex with the female changeling) and everyone else would be like "WTF???" the entire time in utter horror. That said, I also kind of think the main reason why Odo got this plotline is because they had to nerf Odo / get him out of the way somehow in order for the story here to have stakes/tension (because Odo as a character is quite OP).

Related, a thing I found frustrating: In a lot of ways, the strings on the plot were showing a bit throughout this plot arc. Odo being shuffled out of the way is one thing needed to make the plot work, as is the Defiant getting through the defensive line and somehow making it to DS9 without being blown up (I 100% buy that Dukat would have let Sisko through, but Weyoun?? Doesn't the Dominion have joint control of their military? Even if Dukat was arrogantly like "Nah it's fine it's just one ship" I don't really buy Weyoun doing anything other than immediately countermanding that decision). A lot of nerfing had to happen in order to get the situation to look bleak for Sisko and co. (only one ship making it through the defensive line) but not SO bleak in that they still do make it to the wormhole intact (that one ship absolutely HAS to make it all the way through) which is a bit contrived and unrealistic.

Another thing I found frustrating: It's not actually explained why Odo eventually snaps out of his Link addiction (unless it was and I just missed it???). I think he starts slipping out of it a bit and then the female changeling tells him that Kira is going to be killed and then (despite the fact that Odo seems to be resisting more), she doesn't link with him again or insist that he stay with her when they relocate to Ops (three major missteps that allow Odo to slip out of her control further, and I'm unsure why the female changeling would make them???). Anyway, it's never really made clear why Odo starts slipping out of it in the first place. Odo says, "The Link was paradise. But it appears I'm not ready for paradise," and I think it's implied that his attachment to Kira is what snaps him out of it but like... what actually, emotionally-speaking, was going on there? It's never actually shown why Odo, who keeps on going deeper and deeper into a state of peace and feeling like the immediate concerns of the world are less and less significant, suddenly reverses. His feelings for Kira are what drove him to the Link in the first place, and you would think they would get weaker rather than stronger over time. When he sees paradise, what makes him realize he isn't ready? The show doesn't actually give a satisfying answer on any of these points. You can come up with an explanation (for example, I think one thing keeping Odo addicted to the Link is his curiosity, and the more time he spends in the Link, the more his questions get answered and his curiosity is sated, so you would expect the pull of the Link to just naturally grow weaker over time) but the explanation you get from the show itself is unsatisfying and incomplete.

Also, like everyone else, I find it a bit baffling that Odo apologizes to Kira both by saving her life and talking things out with her over a whole night, but he never apologizes or explains his behavior to Quark, who (1) believed in him and was just as upset and disturbed by his behavior during this occupation, (2) almost lost his BROTHER because of Odo's irresponsibility, and (3) ended up risking his life to fix a situation created by ODO. It is very glaring and not satisfying, this dangling plot thread!

I kind of think the above two issues could have been solved by doing a minor tweak: having it so that Quark intervenes in order to snap Odo out of his Link addiction. I'm not sure how this would work -- either Quark using his debating skills/reasoning in order to persuade Odo that he should actually care about what happens to insignificant solids, or Quark just baiting and irritating Odo so much that Odo starts to feel negative emotions again, which ground him once more in the real world. I think narratively this would be quite satisfying, because it would be his love for and fear of rejection by Kira that drives Odo to the Link, and his steadfast, extremely reliable connection to/hatred of Quark that brings him out again -- two very different relationships with different meanings to Odo but that both have sway at the most basic level over Odo's emotions. Odo's line about not being ready for paradise would also fit quite well because it would be Odo's love of arguing and being annoyed by Quark (which is honestly a petty, not very noble pastime) that would tempt him away from the Link and render him not yet worthy of paradise. So this fix would solve both of the above problems simultaneously: it would explain in detail why Odo started slipping out of the Link, and also, Quark being able to successfully pull Odo out of the Link would itself constitute Odo's apology to Quark for having fucked up earlier.

That said, thing I liked: Quark and Ziyal breaking Kira and Rom out of prison. Just everything about that scene and the character dynamics involved was great.

Thing I simultaneously liked and found frustrating: Ziyal's death. On one hand, I think it's great character work for both Dukat and Damar, and really closes the book well on Dukat's plot arc while providing an interesting starting place for Damar's plot arc. On the other hand, Ziyal was such a good character (half-Bajoran half-Cardassian optimistic artist whose father is Dukat and whose adopted mother is Kira -- all of that is so interesting!!) with so many promising aspects to contribute to DS9's post-occupation themes. It's a shame to just kill her off.

Overall, a very mixed bag! I like the writing and there's a lot of food for thought in this arc, but also I think it should have played out quite a bit differently.

#quodo #quodo meta #quark #odo #ds9 #I wrote too much YET AGAIN

23 notes · View notes

discotreque · 4 years ago

Text

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGGTGGGTGQER;LBHAOIBVNV;OAPBIJNVagr;h;oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

#star trek #star trek lower decks #lwd spoilers #lower decks spoilers #lower decks #amy's episode notes

57 notes · View notes

rotationalsymmetry · 4 years ago

Text

General gripes about DS9 and gender (some spoilers) (content notes: some references to sexual abuse/trauma, and specifically spiritual abuse/sexual misconduct in religious leaders, also death/murder):

I swear to fuck these people do not know how to write female characters without shoehorning them into romance plotlines. (Or weird fucked up stuff, like when that Cardassian serial murderer kidnaps Kira.) Especially noticeable with Ziyal -- when Kira takes her to DS9, the writers apparently can't think of a single thing to do with a young woman other than ship her with a much older Cardassian. Then, she's starting to get her own life and make a name for her as an artist, and they fucking refridgerator her. The fuck. (And: the focus is on how her death affects Dukat, that fucker. Which, obviously sure it's going to affect him...but it's also going to affect Kira, who sees Ziyal as like a younger version of herself and was trying to protect her. And then Ziyal dies. That should have some sort of effect on Kira! And did no one else on the station make any sort of connection with her when she was there?) This is arguably not primarily a gender thing, but it is partly a gender thing: the show keeps demanding Kira find sympathy for her oppressors, over and over again. (This is a gripe fest: of course there's a lot of things about Kira's character that are done really well.) She keeps getting thrown in situations that show (some) Cardassians in more nuanced lights and that more or less force her into relationships with them, while meanwhile her old resistance cell friends all get killed off, her parents are dead, if she has any other family we don't hear about it, and she's basically left with no Bajoran friends even, as far as we know. She gets Bajoran lovers who... OK, about that. First, Vedek Bareil. Now, Bajorans are shown to have a pretty relaxed attitude towards their clergy (eg Kira is frequently rude to Winn even after she becomes Kai with apparently no consequences) -- but still. Vedek is roughly equivalent to, what, cardinal? He's high up in the heirarchy. And, he's put himself in a role of spiritual authority relative to Kira: she gets access to one of the Orbs through him. They've got a power imbalance and one that's connected to Kira's ability to do her religion. I don't care what the social norms are on Bajor that is 100% sexual misconduct on Bareil's part. If something went wrong in their relationship, it could fuck up Kira's connection to her faith. And in the show it's presented as no big deal.

(Star Trek seems to be aware of this when it comes to ship's captains! For all that Kirk notoriously fucks everyone, he never voluntarily (/outside of the mirror universe, outside of odd transporter malfunctions that split him into two parts, etc) came on to a crew member. But it's no less important for religious authorities.) (Also: this has nothing to do with celebacy. I'm fine with Bajoran religious figures being allowed to have sex and being allowed to have sex outside of marriage. But: a religious leader having a sexual relationship with someone who they're in a pastoral relationship to is wrong, and while Bareil isn't exactly Kira's pastor I think there is some level of, he's providing spiritual guidance to her. That means she's off limits to him, or should be. In the same way that bosses shouldn't fuck their direct reports, college professors shouldn't fuck their students, therapists definitely shouldn't fuck their patients, etc. Regardless of how they handle their sex life outside of those restrictions. And regardless of whether there's love involved or not -- romantic love absolutely does not make it better.) And then there's Shakaar, the former leader of her resistance cell. That she joined as a teenager. It's...yeah, it's been many years, yeah she's not directly under him any more, and yeah goodness knows a band of resistance fighters is probably not going to have a clearly written up sexual harassment policy so it's not necessarily unrealistic...it's not as blatantly "oh god no" as Bareil, but it's got some...is anyone thinking of potential abuse of power issues here? Anyone?

There was one episode where Jake and Nog were double-dating and it goes badly due to Ferengi, uh, gender roles not meshing well with Federation egalatarianism. And, then the rest of the episode is all about how they're going to repair their friendship. And I was thinking: we didn't see either female character either before or after, and why is a sexism issue being shown from the lens of "how can I, a nice guy, stay friends with my male friend who has sexism issues" and not "how am I, a young woman, going to deal with this affront to my basic personhood" or "how am I, a young woman, going to repair my friendship now that I talked my friend into a double date so I could date the guy I liked but his friend turned out to be garbage?" Like...out of all the potential relationships there, why is Jake's friendship with a guy with sexism issues (who's made it clear he's not going to change, at least as far as dating goes) the one presented as being in most need of preservation? I know, it's because Jake and Nog are more central characters and their friendship has been significant in the show for seasons now. But...that just brings up more questions. Like why does this show have a significant bro friendship between two teenage boys, but there's no friendship between two women (or between a woman and a man for that matter) that's given as much weight? There's some bonding between Kira and Dax, but it doesn't have the same presence and significance as Jake and Nog or, say, Miles and Julian. (I'm having first name/last name inconsistencies here. Ah well.) Keiko has no on-camera friendships. Kira has no on-camera friendships that have Jake & Nog or Julian & Miles weight. Dax maybe does with her Klingon buddies from Curzon's lifetime. (Benjamin Sisko also doesn't.) Ziyal could have, but doesn't. Molly could have, but doesn't. Miles doesn't seem to have any (on-camera or otherwise acknowledged) parent friends (like...there's one couple mentioned who can babysit Molly at times? That's it? We never even see them?), which is weird because fuck knows parenthood can make it hard to have any friends who aren't parents. Odo's got his weird frenemy thing with Quark. Garak has his standing lunch with Julian (if you read that as platonic, which ... yeah, there's not a lot of arguments for seeing it as platonic beyond "they're both men.") I am, don't get me wrong, extremely for showing male friendships. Very much for it. It's just...I want friendships that aren't between two guys also. And I want them to be shown as significant and meaningful and worth overcoming obstacles for. Friendships between women, friendships between people of the same race or culture (or alien species, since we are talking Star Trek here), friendships between men and women that aren't just a precursor to romance. And...parenting that isn't just...I want to see Keiko have problems with parenting that she overcomes with help from other people. I want to explore the emotional ramifications of Kira being a surrogate mom to Kirayoshi or being a semi adopted mom to Ziyal and then having her die. I want Kira to talk about how her own upbringing in times of famine and war and occupation affects her sense of her ability to potentially be a parent. I want a female character to calmly talk about her decision to not become a mother and have that decision be treated with the utmost respect. I want the sort of struggles that male characters have with parenting on the show, like Worf's difficulty connecting with his son or Benjamin's conflict over watching his son grow up and get less interested in spending time with his dad, be shown for female characters as well. And the joys, like when Benjamin remembers holding Jake as an infant, like when they reunite after Jake gets caught in a war zone. Rather than parenting be this thing that mom characters apparently do on autopilot without any internal conflict or feeling out of their depth or particular moments of joy and amazement. There's so many plot lines and moments and bits and pieces that could be amazing moments that give

mother characters balance and nuance and characterization, but they only ever get shown for fathers. (And this is not just Star Trek either...look at all the kids movies that are about father/son or father/daughter bonding, and somehow the moms...just aren't there. It's so good when there are single father storylines, just...where are all the mom storylines that could be like that?) And why do teenage boys get focus and their own stories (especially with Jake in DS9, but also TNG has Wesley Crusher and Alexander, and TOS had one story centering on a teenage boy) but girls either aren't there at all or don't get to have stories that are about them? Ziyal's stories aren't about her, she doesn't get to form her own friendships and only barely gets to develop an interest of her own before her life is taken away from her. Molly doesn't get stories that are about her. (And yeah, Molly's a lot younger than Jake, but those are still choices: DS9 could have been set when Molly was a teenager, or the show could have introduced a different teenage girl as a significant character, or Jake could have been a girl rather than a boy, or Benjamin could have had two children...)

#incidentally I have no complaints about how winn is written as a female anatagonist #she's a shitty person and an excellent villain #I have pretty tangled thoughts and feelings on dax #she's had a few really great episodes and it seems like her characterization is starting to make more sense since her relationship with wor #moogie is odd but satisfying as an older woman who lives life on her own terms under a highly patriarchal culture #ds9 #feminism #gender and media #women in media

12 notes · View notes

coco-little-rose · 5 years ago

Text

I’m feeling a bit guilty but I really need to write what I didn’t like about Star Trek Picard. I really love this show, I think it have the potential and very interesting characters but I have a big problem with the narration.

But I need to tell you something.. or more like I need to yell something: I’M DONE WITH WEIRD INCEST PLOT!! Since Game of Thrones, american shows are going wild with incest. Star Trek Picard and now HGAWM (I stopped watching this show years ago but I still follow some blog and I didn’t know if it was a joke or not).

The writers of Star Trek Picard want a more darker show, something for adult. They think incest and unecessary death make a story darker. In my opinion, it depend on the execution of the plot.

Killing off characters can be necessary to move the plot or to grow an another character but:

- Dahj’s death was barely mentionned and mostly it was to full Picard’s pain.

- Icheb’s death was supposed to have a big impact on Seven... I saw it in one episode and the rest of the season we forget him.

- Hugh’s death was supposed to... well I don’t know. I guess it was to show us how evil Narissa was.

- The carnage of the xBs was supposed to show us... it did nothing to Seven or Picard. At the end of the season we don’t even know what hapened to the Borg cube.

- The destruction of Romulus was badly handle. The “good” Romulans are friends with Picard, more like they are at his service (Laris, Zhaban, Elnor). The “bad” Romulan are against Picard and are very cartoonish (Narek, Narissa, Commodore Oh) they also have some weird incestuous subplot because we need to know how evil and without moral they are.

- The only useful death was Bruce Maddox, because Agnes deals with the psycholical consequences (and I don’t think it will be over anytime soon) and it allow the plot to move forward with the revelation about Commodore Oh. I hope to see the legal consequences in season 2.

None of those elements were used. When I saw all the Romulans characters in this show, it didn’t feel like they lost their worlds, their home, their culture. Even Picard seemed more sadder about it than most of Romulan characters. This show let me with a lot of questions:

- Why the Romulans needed Starfleet’s help to evacuate their own homeworld ? In Voyager, they managed to build some kind of wormhole but they can’t rescue their own people ?

- I didn’t like the picture of Picard as the “savior of Romulans”. I don’t know, it felt wrong.

- Elnor spend most of his time killing his own people for Picard. We’re talking about someone who lost his homeworld. The destruction Of Romulus made billions victims. Elnor doesn’t seem to think his people are near extinction ?! There isn’t any reflexions about it.

- Commodore Oh sabotaged the rescue fleet for Romulus, Narek and Narissa are agree with it. Ok... but what about the billions dead Roumulans. was it worth ?

The destruction of Romulus is for nothing. The Romulans onscreen are still similar to the one we saw in other Star Trek shows like TNG, DS9 and VOY. There isn’t a word about the lost of Romulus. Not even from Laris and Zhaban. They just said, there is a Romulans refugees crisis and never talk about it again

An another problem I find is how they deal with the drug issue.

- Raffi, the only black woman, has drug issues and she’s shamed and rejected by her own family because of that. I thought Starfleet know how to deal with drug addiction. It’s the 24th century, humanity is supposed to have a cure for this kind of problem. They are supposed to be more tolerant. I don’t understand how Raffi’s plot can exist. I agree, the part in which she believes in some conspiracy theories could lead her to be isolated. But the drug addiction ? It shouldn’t be like this. Medical care is an achievement in Star Trek.

The romantic relationship between characters are not very well written.

- I didn’t have any interest in Agnes/Cris, maybe it’s just me but I don’t feel any emotionnal connexion between them. Every time they were onscreen I felt like Elnor.

- In retrospect, I understand Soji/Narek. From the beginning, I thought Narek was a creep, he even admitted to Soji to spy her communication with her mother. For me it was a big red flag and at the time I didn’t understand why Soji wasn’t shock. But, we find later she’s basically a 4 years old synth. She probably didn’t have the experience to deal with Narek’s behaviour. She didn’t have any support, not even from her fake mother. But I wish we could have more suspense about it... like I wasn’t surprise, i didn’t even care... They could have make an effort in term of storytelling. They show us Narek had genuine feelings for her but it didn’t really work.

- Narek/Soji has some parallel with Agnes/Bruce Maddox. Ok, she didn’t seduce him to kill him. He was an old flame, she probably still have feelings for him. But despite her feelings she killed him. Yes she was under the influence of a mind-meld with horrific pictures of organic life dying. Narek was raised in the hate of people like Soji. His behaviour is terrible but don’t forget Agnes could have become like him. She has a potential to be a good spy actually. So I don’t understand why the narration is so against Narek but give Agnes a free pass. I’m surprise with the writers, they wanted a dark show but the end of the season was almost really positive for the character. If they want to be dark, they should have put Agnes on a cell next to Narek, waiting for a trial; it should have been one of the last scene of the season 1. Instead we get a weird happy end.

- Seven/Raffi looks like queerbaiting. most of the het ship had a decent screentime even the abusive one (Narek/Soji). But Seven and Raffi only got the last second of the final and we don’t even know if they will have the development they deserve. i wouldn’t be surprise if the next season they are like “well it’s was a one shot, now we decided to stay friend”... At last, the show took some time to mention they weren’t heterosexual but some people didn’t even understand the message.

I didn’t feel like the show was more mature than any other Star Trek. They don’t deal well with genocide or any other sensitive topic. In this season 1, I feel like it was impossible to question Picard’s goodness. Picard is show as a hero who save the galaxy and is always right. Yes, some people were piss off with him but:

- The Romulan guy who was angry at him was killed by Elnor.

- Raffi had every reasons to be angry at Picard but she forgives him because... because I don’t know why. In my opinion, Picard didn’t work to have her forgiveness or to prove he was a good friend. He was mostly obsessed with his “Data quest”. Raffi “forgives” him because he was dying.

The last negative element was the banned of Synthetic.

- So, the Federation with Rikker’s help discovered the existence of a Romulan conspiracy against synthetic people and the fact they were manipulated to forbidd synth. At the the end of season 1, the Federation erased the laws banned against Synth and ... that is all ? The Federation did exactly the same thing with Augment people, they never allow them to be normal citizens or in Starfleet. Several episodes show us this dark side of the Federation. But with Data and Dahj’s death, with Soji out of Earth we didn’t get to see how badly it was for Synth people to live under the Federation.

The writers had several option to picture Star Trek more darker by showing ushow bad the Romulan refugees crisis is or how bad it is for Synth people. The only Romulans refugees we got are Laris and Zhaban, they seemed happy with Picard, maybe they are victim of prejudices, but they were writing off.

Despite this flaws, I enjoyed Star Trek Picard. I hope it’ll be better in season 2, the casting is perfect and all the characters have a lot of potential. It will be a waste to kill some of them. What is interesting is to make them face the consequences of their act and to make them grow up or to make them fall at the end of the story (like Dukhat and Kai Winn in DS9).

I watch TV shows for entertainment, so I don’t care if a show is more adult. I don’t think Star Trek writers should dismiss teens stories. Some of them are really dark after all. And I don’t think the death of a character should be a means to an end.

#spoilers star trek picard #Jean-Luc Picard #raffi x seven #Seven of Nine #soji asha #raffi musiker #cristobal rios #dahj asha #bruce maddox #narek #Romulans #synth #elnor #Sorry for my english #agnes jurati #agnes x rios #soji x narek #agnes x bruce

31 notes · View notes

biscuitreviews · 5 years ago

Text

Biscuit Reviews Star Trek Discovery (Season 2) (SPOILERS)

After watching the first season of Discovery, I thought, “what first season of Trek isn’t awful, maybe Discovery will hit its stride in the second season.” Then I watched the second season...

That was a thing.

As mentioned previously in my season one review, technological inconsistencies will not matter and Lore will be taken on a case by case basis. Season 2 will be judged on Season 2 alone, but I will bring up Season 1 events if appropriate. I won’t be going over every episode as Season 2 had a continuing storyline.

Spoilers will be discussed so if you haven’t watched either the first or second season, you’ve been warned.

Season 2 immediately picks up where Season 1 left off, with the USS Discovery answering a distress signal from the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. With the Enterprise heavily damaged, Starfleet has tasked Pike to take command of Discovery to continue his mission on investigating seven signals that mysteriously appeared with no explanation.

Having Pike come in is once again an excellent way to bridge this series with the TOS timeline. We also get to see more of Pike himself as our only experience seeing Pike in action is the TOS pilot. Pike is a Captain that will do anything for the crew he serves. He upholds Starfleet’s ideals of peace and exploration. We even get to see Pike still continue to carry the guilt of being able to do nothing during the Federation/Klingon war, something that we also saw in the pilot episode of TOS which was a really nice touch of connecting that this Pike we are seeing is the same Pike from the pilot.

As for where we are exactly in accordance to the TOS timeline, Season 2 takes place at an undetermined amount of time after the events of the TOS pilot. However, from what I have observed with what Discovery presents to us, my guess would be we are about 8 years away from the first episode of Kirk’s command of the Enterprise which we saw in “The Man Trap”. Which would put the events of the pilot happening around the first or second year of Pike’s command of the Enterprise. Take that little detail with a grain of salt, but again, with what we’re presented, I feel this makes the most sense in terms of the timeline of the Prime Universe.

However, despite how awesome Pike was, I felt season 2 used him as a crutch to keep the series up. It seems that the second season wanted to highlight Pike as the main character rather than Michael Burnham, you know, who the series is actually supposed to be about?

Speaking of Michael, what’s her story this season? Finding Spock after he broke out of a psychiatric hospital. Why is Spock in a psychiatric hospital you might ask. He’s there because he’s connected to the seven signals somehow and believes that the creator of the signals, known as the “Red Angel” is communicating with him. Spock also enters a “logic breakdown” trying to figure out if the Red Angel is real or not, seeing how he’s the only person that has had any form of contact with this being.

We’ll get more to Michael’s story soon, but first let’s go ahead and address the elephant in the room. How is Spock in Discovery? He’s fine. I don’t have a problem with this Spock showing more of his emotional side as it lines up more with how Spock was portrayed in the pilot of TOS. However, what I do have a problem with the conflict he has with Michael Burnham and how the writers handled the rest of Spock’s family. Spock resents Michael, why does he resent Michael? The reason for said resentment is what I consider to be one of the most offensive things to happen to Spock himself.

Amanda Grayson, Spock’s mother, saying how she couldn’t give all her love and support to Spock because she didn’t want to confuse him with his Vulcan/Human heritages and being raised the Vulcan way.

What the fuck.

Look, I know canon established that Amanda had difficulties with raising Spock and how she faced challenges with the Vulcan upbringing. But even through all of that, she still showed her love towards Spock and did her best to give Spock the support he needed during his formative years. We’ve even seen Spock in TOS and the movies be very warm towards his mother, even AOS reflected this. To have Amanda say she gave everything to Michael not only gives more unnecessary resentment Michael faces to the longtime Trek audience, but also does a disservice to the established relationship between Amanda and Spock that we see in TOS and the movies.

Let’s not forget the other reason Spock has resentful towards Michael, because she called him a half-breed when they were kids. The reason Michael did that was also really weird, which was for the sake of protecting him from the Logic Extremists to show that they hated each other. I’m sorry, but I don’t think that would stop a terrorist organization trying to harm Spock. This seems like another case of the writers needing a patchwork reason to show why they never went after Spock as a child to uphold established Lore and that was what they came up with.

As for Spock himself, well my complaints for Spock are the same as Pike’s. He was used as a crutch for the season to keep interest, which was not necessary. A Spock appearance was inevitable with the adoptive nature he shares with Michael, but to have him play the large role was unnecessary, especially with what we learn about Michael’s connection with the Red Angel.

Now Sarek, this season, I will have to admit, he was handled much better than the previous season. We see a Sarek that cares for Spock, even partaking in Vulcan rituals to attempt to reach out to his son when Spock is missing. We see Sarek doing everything possible to help Spock. Even when he’s faced with a dilemma between turning Spock over to the Federation for questioning, we see that internal conflict he faces on whether it’s the best course of action.

However, his reason for turning him over was a really dumb reason.

“Because the Federation can take better care of Spock.”

I’m sorry, but every piece of Lore, every Star Trek series, has shown that nothing can take care of a Vulcan better than another Vulcan when it comes to these mental issues. We see this in TOS, we see this in DS9, we see this in Voyager, and we see this in the movies. But it’s the thought that counts I guess? Not really.

Another reason for turning Spock over is that it’s because he believes in Spock’s innocence and that he believed it was logical to have Spock, Pike, and Michael provide their evidence regarding the Red Angel and why Spock didn’t commit the murders he was framed for. He knew that for Spock to be cleared, it was logical to appear cooperative and with the Discovery crew actively investigating the Red Angel and Spock’s alleged crime, it made sense. That part I get, and I wish that was just the reasoning, instead of tacking on the whole “Federation can take better care of Spock because of his condition.” It would have really highlighted Sarek’s loyalties to the Federation, while at the same time showing his love for Spock. But we didn’t get that. Instead we got the Federation can take better care of a Vulcan than another Vulcan.

Now, what about the other characters? Staments’ storyline dealing with the revival of his husband Dr. Culber I’ll admit is something I was not a big fan of. If anything the revival of Dr. Culber, got rid of the development and drive Staments had in the end of the first season and the need to want to leave Starfleet at the beginning of Season 2. It had the potential to tackle a sci-fi issue, is this alternate version of a character the same person, or are they a completely different person?

The initial answer I’ll admit was rather intriguing. Dr. Culber can recall the experiences, but those experiences are not his and he even stated as such. He even moves out of the shared quarters with Staments to figure out who he is as well as show that this Dr. Culber is indeed a different person. I was looking forward to the two of them getting reacquainted and see a new type of relationship develop. A new romance, a friendship, or maybe not get together at all. Instead, we got the new Culber picking the relationship back up with Staments without any real meaningful development or reasoning as to why he chose to re-enter said relationship.

Now Trek has always played with character deaths. In fact, Voyager is a series that played with it alot, at least every character died at some point, but got revived because of either breaking time loops, changing the past, or having alternate universe versions just take over. The reason it worked with Voyager is because the crew were in an unknown part of galaxy and were doing everything possible to get back home. All of it was written and ingrained in Voyager’s story and DNA.

With Discovery, this felt more like a mistake they were trying to correct in season one by negating the “killing the gay” trope to be like “see, he’s not dead. It’s Trek, just write it off!” No, I’m not going to write that off, Alex Kurtzman, you just did more of a disservice towards these two characters just like the disservice that happened to them in season one.

Saru’s arc is not only amazing, but also in many ways relatable to his self-discovery as a Kelpian. We learn that Saru’s planet, his species actually used to be the oppressors towards the Ba’ul many years ago. Now that the Ba’ul have risen to power, they have turned their revenge on the Kelpians and are now oppressing them. Saru begins to enter a stage in a Kelpian’s life where it has been long believed that he is entering death. Instead he’s entering an evolution in his species. The fact that he doesn’t know what this new stage will do or how to go about it is very relatable. As a human person, I sometimes don’t know the inner workings of my body. Everytime we see a species in Trek, they know everything about their biology so to see an alien species actually not know something about theirs is very relatable.

I did love Tilly’s arc with communicating with the mycelinal network. Thinking she’s losing her grip of reality little by little, coming up with the conclusion on what was happening, reaching out for help when she needed it and the Discovery crew giving her actual honest help. If only they actually provided that level of support for another character that reached out for help. Don’t worry, I’ll be getting to Ash Tyler later. Hell, when Tilly was taken into the mycelinal network, Discovery did everything they could to get her out. The second part of her arc, which occured in the finale, was handled terribly in the writing sense as it actually required you to watch another series known as “Short Treks” to understand as it introduces a new character, Me Hani Iki Hali Ka Po (which I will refer to as Queen Po moving forward).

Yeah, I’ll deviate from Discovery a little to briefly mention Short Treks. Short Treks was meant to be more of a supplemental series telling short stories within the Trek universe. It’s a great idea for lore building but to have one episode required to understand how something in the finale happened left a bad taste in my mouth.

Take Saru for example. He had a Short Trek episode that showed how he joined Starfleet. Yet it’s not required to watch as Saru gives what you need to know in the main series, but if you want the full experience you can watch the Short Trek episode or don’t, either way, you have everything you need. Even the Picard prologue episode doesn't require you to watch it first as again, what you need to know is in the series itself.

But Tilly’s episode regarding Queen Po, if you don’t watch it, you’ll be lost as to why this new character is important as well as her connection to Tilly.

So what about Ash Tyler, what’s he up to. He’s on Kronos! Maybe he’s acting as a liaison between the Federation and the Klingons? Nope, he’s now the husband of the new Klingon Chancellor, who was his rapist. He forgave his rapist and then married her.

Do the writers just not know what to do with him?

I’m sorry are we going to forget everything that he went through in season 1? How he would enter a mental breakdown at the mere mention or sight of her. Are we going to forget all of the physical and mental abuse that was done to him, just sweep it under the rug and forget that everything happened because they now love each other?

Look, I know canon established that Klingon women are very violent and physical towards their mates. But you know what Trek also established, that it was consensual when someone would engage with a Klingon in any sort of courtship or sexual relationship. But everything that happened to Ash Tyler wasn’t a part of Klingon culture and courting, it was not consensual, it was torture and rape in a time of war!

Look, the writers need to do better. He had some great potential to highlight issues such as PTSD and male rape victims. But it got bungled so hard that I don't even know how they can fix the mess they have made of his narrative. Would certainly be better for him if the writers stop trying to have him be a posterboy of issues that they clearly do not understand how to convey.

Oh, they have a kid too. But the father was the Klingon who’s personality and soul was fused into Ash Tyler and now he needs to protect the kid, because reasons. So he and the Chancellor fake Tyler’s death and the death of their child. Those events bring him to join Section 31.

Now, Section 31 has been mentioned here and there in Trek lore, we would see their presence every now and then in DS9. We learn that Emperor Georgiou has actually become a member of Section 31 and would be an ally to the Discovery crew. Seeing a Mirror Universe person try to acclimate themselves to the way of life in the Prime Universe, which is a very drastic change compared to what she’s used to was a very refreshing change of pace involving anything that deals with the Mirror Universe.

From being a leader of an empire that nearly brought the galaxy to its knees, to now taking orders from Starfleet. Not only that, but she must also obey her superior officers and report to her commanding officer, Leland. Whom in classic Mirror Universe fashion, does what she can to become a new commanding officer of the ship.

I’ll admit seeing more of this is something that I would like and I really hope that the Section 31 series starring Emperor Georgiou really takes off.

Leland will actually be our “big bad” for the season. He will be killed and have his body taken over by a Section 31 AI known as Control. Control’s immediate goal is to obtain consciousness, however, it’s the connection with the Red Angel that explains why Control is a threat.

The Red Angel is Michael’s mother, Gabrielle, who was thought to be dead. This actually added a lot to Michael’s backstory. Michael’s mother worked for Section 31 and was developing a time travel suit. Why was she working on a time travel suit? Because Section 31 obtained evidence that the Klingons were developing time travel technology. That little part I’m a bit weirded out on as I don’t think Klingons would even waste their time on time travel tech. Honestly that seems more like something a Romulan would do than a Klingon, but ok, I guess we’ll go with that.

When the Klingons attacked, she attempted to use the suit to go back in time to get her family out before the Klingons came. But, instead of going into the past, she ends up 950 years into the future, where Control has evolved and eradicated all life in the galaxy.

With Michael hoping for a joyous reunion with her mother, we find Gabrielle determined with one mission and one mission only, to stop Control. I actually really liked Gabrielle’s coldness towards Michael as it shows that she has been trying to stop Control for a long time. The exhaustion on her face, the zero emotion she had when reuniting with Michael and the sharpness of her dialogue delivery show a woman that has seen everything she cares for die in front of her repeatedly. So much so that Michael’s attempts to reach out to her are met with a callous mindset that Gabrielle knows too well. Why should she bother trying to reconnect with her daughter, if to her she’s simply going to die soon anyway for what is probably the thousandth time?

We even see Michael desperately trying to find some sort of connection, some sort of in to allow her mother to feel what she is feeling and that moment right there you really feel for Michael and just wish that her mother would at least hug her or something.

It’s these moments that help Michael grow more as a character and help her stand on our own, without the need of Sarek or Spock holding her back. These moments show a Michael that just wants to save her mother, and show her that this long battle she has fought can end and that the future can change. Michael has lost her mother once and she is now in a position to save her.

This is how you bring a reunion, this is how you make a character standout. By having Michael show herself and her feelings. Not attach her to something that she really doesn’t need to be attached to for the sake of creating a connection with legacy characters for the buy-in.

After the final battle and stopping Control, we see the USS Discovery and its crew find themselves 900 years into the future and that is where season 2 ends and where season 3 will begin.

Once again my main complaint is terrible writing that disrespects the characters. It disrespected Michael by having her continue to be held back by Sarek, Amanda, and Spock. It disrespected Spock by completely trashing his relationship with his mother. It disrespected Staments and Culber by just negating a major death from the previous season, tackle an interesting topic, and then just back out and move on like nothing changed. It disrespected Ash Tyler by continuing to have him be a representative of not-so-much talked about issues and still doing everything wrong on bringing awareness.

Hopefully being in the future can free Michael and allow her to grow now that Sarek and Spock are no longer holding her back since they’re now dead. Hopefully this allows Ash Tyler to no longer be tortured by the writers ignorance. Hopefully, they stop messing around with Staments and Culber and actually show both of them starting a new relationship, or just have them both remain friends or show them finding new love. Also, I hated that they used this to essentially “test the waters” on their version of Pike and Spock to see if a new “Strange New Worlds” series would be welcomed. Despicable!

But with how the first two seasons have been so far, I’m not holding my breath.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 receives a 2 out of 5

#Star Trek #Star Trek:Discovery #Disco #Michael Burnham #Spock #CBS All Access #Discovery season 2 #Biscuit reviews

3 notes · View notes

swordsandrayguns · 5 years ago

Text

Riker’s Beard And Family Time: Looking Back At Star Trek: TNG

I write science fiction and fantasy novels… so I am no stranger to things dubbed “nerdy.” The last few months, though, I have been doing something that pushes the boundaries of nerdy even for me. I’m watching all the Star Trek properties in the order of their release. Yup, an epic binge watch covering over five decades of television series, cartoons and motion pictures. Look, I can try to explain and rationalize this a couple ways. Truth is, I travel a great deal and have to fill the time I spent in airports and on planes (preferably with things I can download as oppose to stream). I am also, as an author, studying some of the great examples of “universe building” and epic story arcs. Still nerdy, though; I admit it.

Obviously, I started with the original series and jumped into the animated series. I timed this all so my viewing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture coincided with the the special 40th anniversary showings in theaters. I followed through the next couple of movies into The Next Generation, alternating in movies and even the original series pilot The Cage (which was originally made available to the public as a pay per view offering between the first and second seasons of The Next Generation) as they fell in the original release timeline. I am getting to the end of the fifth season of Next Generation now and very much looking forward to alternating between episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9 and even the occasional film in the near future.

Just in case you are wondering, I am pretty dedicated to sticking to the timeline but I am not strictly adhering to it. As I find myself, for example, in a hotel with channels such as BBC America or the Heroes and Icons channel I will only turn on episodes that have already showed up in my series overview… so no DS9, Voyager or Enterprise (yet) but the adventures of Kirk and company are fair game, as are Next Generation episodes up to season five. On the other hand, I am still watching Discovery’s Short Treks as they come out and I am definitely watching Picard as soon as I get a chance (meaning on my big screen at home instead of streaming it on my laptop over shaky hotel wifi).

Even though I have not finished the complete rewatch, I find that I already have some new thoughts and ideas about I have seen so far starting with Riker’s beard.

Star Trek The Next Generation has generated a basketful of memes from “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” to “I am not a merry man” but undeniably the greatest is “Riker’s beard.” Just as the Internet has given us “jumping the shark,” the phrase to mark when a show is never quite as good again named for a really stupid moment when Fonzie was in Hawaii, it gave us “Riker’s beard” to mark the opposite. To this day, I know people that will immediately turn off an episode of The Next Generation if Jonathan Frakes turns up clean shaven (or if Wesley is in it, but that is a whole different story and, honestly, my harsh view of Wesley softened a bit with this re-watch). My first revelation from my Next Generation binge is that while season two, when the beard shows up, is better than season one, it is not when Next Generation really hits its stride.

First of all, let me defend season one of Star Trek The Next Generation. Twenty one years after the premiere of Star Trek, after three seasons of a pioneering science fiction drama, a year of the animated series and four feature films, Star Trek The Next Generation had to take up the incredibly difficult challenge of continuing one of the world’s beloved stories without a single character from the original series. Even more difficult, the real world had changed. Where the original Star Trek was making a statement by having a Russian, an Asian and an African woman on the bridge The Next Generation would not have made any statements with this type of casting. After all, when Picard met his crew and first face Q at Farpoint the biggest show on television focused on the an upper middle class African American family, something that was absolutely unthinkable when Kirk boldly set forth with his crew.

The first season of Star Trek The Next Generation not only introduced Q, the Ferengi and Data’s not so lovable android brother Lore it killed a main character. Star Trek The Next Generation took a major step that not only the original series never tackled but most shows avoid. Sure, other shows tease it and even then it was usually on a season ending cliffhanger. Even the original series backed away from the only death of a major character they ever portrayed with an entire movie dedicated to reversing it. Star Trek The Next Generation killed Tasha Yar completely out of the blue with three episodes left in the first season. This incredibly bold move cast a shadow on the entire series, adding a real threat to future episodes.

Is season one perfect? Oh, no. Not at all. Not even close, but like I already mentioned it had an amazingly difficult challenge facing it. The fans were expecting… well, everything. Next Generation was trying to stay true to the essence of Star Trek while making itself something new. They put families on the Enterprise to emphasize it was a vehicle of exploration, not a military ship. They made sure there was not a Vulcan to be found and put the odd man in a kilt wandering the hallways. They put a Klingon on the bridge! But then they had to deal with it all.

Season two was better. For one thing, the anticipation and the expectations were gone. The show made it through the first season and when it came back with its second season it was coming back as Star Trek The Next Generation not “the new Star Trek.” Ironically, due to a writers’ strike, season two actually started off with a script recycled from the ill-fated Star Trek: Phase II series. In addition to the first officer’s facial hair, the second season brought Whoopi Goldberg on board as the ship’s bartender and saw Diana Muldaur (in her third Star Trek universe role as Dr. Pulaski) taking over the sick bay from Dr. Crusher. Geordi La Forge also migrated from the bridge to take over engineering. It was always a bit odd, somehow, in season one to not have the chief engineer as a major character, if only because the chief engineer would seem to play as an important of a role in the operations of the ship as, say, the ship’s counselor or a teenager doing his after school work study program as an acting ensign.

While season two was an improvement, it had its issues. Dr. Pulaski, playing a role meant, no doubt, to help humanize Data, came across as abrasive and (in my opinion) mean spirited. Gates McFadden had been fired, apparently because the head writer did not like her, but Gene Roddenberry resisted killing her character so Dr. Beverly Crusher merely transferred off the ship. When the head writer left the popular character of Dr. Crusher returned in season three. Whoopi Goldberg, although an interesting character, was the ship’s civilian bartender which is just kind of weird. Did the ship have a food court, too? The season was also shortened, because of the aforementioned writers’ strike, and it actually ended with (of all things) a clip show. A clip show!

As a final defense of season two, it did introduce the Borg, one of greatest science fiction villain races of all times. But was it really that much better than season one? Well, season two saw five episodes get a total of six Emmy nominations and won two (both technical Emmy awards related to the sound department). Season one’s premiere was the first television episode to be nominated for a Hugo Award in 15 years. Another season one episode was the first syndicated television episode to win a Peabody Award and six episodes gathered a total of seven Emmy nominations, winning three (for makeup, costume design and sound editing). If you place your faith in the numbers, it seems season one might have actually been better (at least if you go by its awards).

So by now, if I may be so bold as to make a prediction, you are probably thinking “This guy has put way too much thought into Star Trek The Next Generation” and “Okay, so if season two is not when The Next Generation gets great, when is it?” First, I said as an author I am studying Star Trek so cut me some slack. Second, I am glad you asked.

Star Trek The Next Generation, in my opinion, really hit its stride is the fourth season. Season four swept onto screens with the second part of season finale cliffhanger The Best Of Both Worlds. The Federation was facing the awesome might of the Borg and the crew of the Enterprise was desperately trying to save Picard, who had been taken and turned into Borg mouthpiece Locutus, so the season started with big action and drama. This quickly led to a series of episodes focusing on character relationships, particularly family relationships.

After he is rescued, Picard is left a broken man and returns to his family’s vineyard in France. Although there had been several stories about Picard’s history, this was the first to address his family and his entry into Star Fleet. Data’s Day not only explored how the android navigated through his duties and relationships, it introduced Chief O’Brien’s new wife Keiko. The O’Briens are the focus in the very next episode, showing not only the natural difficulties they were having adjusting to their new life as a married couple but also O’Brien’s past Star Fleet career and the psychological wounds left by his service in the war with Cardassia. To me, Riker’s beard does not signify when Star Trek The Next Generation really gets good, it is when Keiko O’Brien appears.

Family was a major theme of the fourth season, as Worf discovered he was a father and worked to regain his family’s honor in the eyes of fellow Klingons. Luxanna Troi re-appeared as did the ghost of Tasha Yar when the crew encountered her sister. Data’s brother also made another appearance, as did Data’s creator. Data also grew a great deal, even being shown to try out a romantic relationship with another crew member. The true strength of Star Trek The Next Generation, as of season four, was that it was well established enough as a series to feature stories based on human relationships instead of action or the “alien of the week.”

It should also be noted that season four also brought more episodes which were a part of longer storylines, such as Worf’s dishonor and the political intrigues of the Klingon Empire. There were also many returning minor characters and new characters being set up for multiple appearances. It is only after three seasons Star Trek The Next Generation finally had established enough of its own universe for this to happen. Also, though, by season four plans were in motion for a second live action Star Trek series, one to run concurrently with Next Generation. It could have been that the introduction of multi-episode storylines were a result of the producers consciously attempting to expand the Star Trek universe while starting to differentiate Next Generation from the upcoming Deep Space Nine.

Ironically, season four also marks Star Trek The Next Generation outlasting its predecessor in terms of seasons on the air. While this did not actually influence the formation of my opinion season four is when Next Generation really gets good, it does really make me wonder what Star Trek may have become if it had a season four.

#star trek #next generation #rikers beard #science fiction #indy author

6 notes · View notes

weerd1 · 5 years ago

Text

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1908.06: Missions Reviewed, “Indiscretion,” “Rejoined,” “Starship Down,” and “Little Green Men.”

“Indiscretion” gives us Maj. Kira hearing from a skeezy old contact that a missing Cardassian prisoner transport that disappeared may have been found, and she immediately plans to investigate. However, in the interest of furthering Bajoran and Cardassian relations, the new Cardassian government insists on sending a representative: Gul Dukat.

Meanwhile, Kassidy Yates is talking about moving permanently onto DS9, which catches Sisko a little off guard. His reaction puts her off, and he has to figure out how to make this right, and if indeed this is the next step he wants to take. Kira and Dukat track the ship, and Kira realizes Dukat has a personal interest: his Bajoran mistress was on board with a daughter…his daughter. Kira is at first sympathetic but realizes he intends to kill the girl in order to preserve his status on Cardassia. She needs him though as the survivors are being used as slave labor by the Breen, and Kira can’t rescue them alone. When they have Tora Ziyal safe, Kira is prepared to shoot Dukat to save the girl, but he relents, promising to take her back to Cardassia and face the consequences.

Written during the “We’re going to make you like Dukat” era of DS9, the writers effectively tease us with the fact he is still insufferable but slowly coming around. Some comic relief even shows up as Kira removes a splinter from his posterior.

Introducing the character of Ziyal does put Dukat on an interesting arc…though redemption won’t be the destination. The Sisko/Yates scenes are amusing as well and bode well for those two characters continued development. The Breen are introduced, and to me they always seemed to have some tie to Boushh, Leia’s disguise in “Return of the Jedi.” They will of course come into play when the Dominion War takes off, but will remain mysterious.

In “Rejoined,” a Trill science team comes to the station with the plan of creating an artificial wormhole. The lead scientist has a symbiont who in a previous host was married to one of Dax’s previous hosts.

“Reassociation” is a severe taboo in Trill society, and could result in being banished from the homeworld, which would mean the symbiont could not be passed on to another host, effectively ending its life. Jadzia and Lenara are initially awkward together, but work together easily, and the attraction between them begins to grow. Eventually, when there is an accident in the experiment, Dax realizes she never wants to lose Lenara again, and asks her to stay on DS9, accept the exile, and rekindle their love.

Lenara considers, but cannot bring herself to give her work and life up, and leaves when the experiments are over, leaving a broken hearted Dax in her wake.

For an episode from the mid 1990s, this is a remarkable way of dealing with homosexuality. What’s truly brilliant is the way the story makes the Taboo the Trill reassociation, NOT the gender of the hosts, so NO ONE in the episode questions the two of them being married because they are women. Kira even gives an impassioned speech about choice and love, and at no point is gender mentioned. Very ahead of its time, and very heartbreaking when it doesn’t work out. Susanna Thompson who plays Lenara will of course go on to play the Borg Queen in a few episodes of Voyager, and Moira Queen on “Arrow.” Sci Fi Royalty all around!

The Defiant becomes a “Starship Down” in the Gamma Quadrant! While negotiating with a partner there the Defiant is attacked by two Jem’Hadar fighters.

The trade ship and the Defiant descend into the atmosphere of a gas giant to evade their attackers. Blinded in the atmosphere the cat and mouse continues after Sisko is hurt with Worf taking over the combat. He pushes too hard, and O’Brien gives him advice on how to better work with the other officers. Kira meanwhile is trying to keep Sisko alive while dealing with the fact that he is The Emissary. She admits her discomfort and wonders if they have not bonded more because of the unspoken issues that he is kind of her Messiah. Worf manages to defeat the Dominion Forces, and back on DS9, Sisko invites Kira to a holosuite baseball game.

Something seems off on this episode. I applaud the adaptation of the old submarine warfare tropes, though I don’t think they do it as well as “Balance of Terror” did on the Original Series. It’s weird seeing Worf have to practice how to deal with human officers; it’s not like he’s fresh, he’s been working with humans on the Enterprise for years. The Kira/Sisko stuff is kind of interesting, and I am always a sucker for dealing with the Bajoran religion and its ramificaitons. Fun to see James Cromwell (Zephram Cochrane in “First Contact”) here as well as the alien negotiator. Otherwise, everyone else just seems…off.

“Little Green Men” Lightens the mood however. With Nog preparing to head off to Starfleet Academy, Quark offers to take him on the new ship he just inherited from the often mentioned cousin Gayla. On the way there though, Rom realizes Quark is actually smuggling some contraband, and that Gayla has sabotaged the shuttle. Using the elicit merch to counter the sabotage, they are thrown back in time to 1947, where they have crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.

In the custody of the US Army, they have to reactivate their universal translators to even talk to the primitive Hew-Mons, who do things like light tobacco and fire and breathe it, and irradiate their own planet with nuclear fission. Quark begins to scheme to ‘bargain’ the whole planet under his control, but the Army starts playing hardball.

Luckily, knowing he was smuggling, it turns out Odo was stowed away and knows where they can find their ship. As luck would have it there’s about to be another nuclear test, and they can use that explosion to make another temporal distortion…if there’s enough of the contraband “kemosite” on board. Luckily there is, and they return to the right year and get Nog safely to Starfleet. Meanwhile Quark has to scrap the ship to get money for passage home. Odo wants to arrest him, but he points out there is no proof: all the kemosite was used in the time warp!

Definitely a fun ep but one that the expanded universe of the novels used to great effect talking about the Ferengi tech studies from Area 51 being used to design the Botany Bay that Khan would later leave Earth in during the Eugenics Wars. Also neat to see Charles Napier guest star here, since he was a space hippy in the TOS episode “The Way to Eden;” now he is a Herbert as the Army General in charge. The best part of the whole episode though is Nog studying an Earth history program and asking his father if he thinks some guy named Gabriel Bell from the 2020s looks just like Captain Sisko.

NEXT VOYAGE: It’s Klingonpalooza on DS9 as Kor joins Worf and Jadzia as they search for the legendary “Sword of Kahless”! tlhIngan maH! taHjaj!

#star trek #star trek: Deep Space Nine #DS9 rewatch

5 notes · View notes

douxreviews · 6 years ago

Text

Star Trek: Discovery - ‘Battle at the Binary Stars’ Review

By JRS

"I was raised to believe that service was my purpose."

When Commander Michael Burnham is convinced enough in her own rightness to attack Captain Phillippa Georgiou, her mutiny earns her a place in the brig – just as the Klingons attack, endangering all that Burnham holds dear.

One of the hallmarks of good writing is that you put your characters in layers of jeopardy. Everything builds and builds until the character is forced to choose something in a way that reveals the uttermost depth of that character. The dreadful algebra of necessity, Pratchett called it. What do you do when you're in such a terrible situation that no answer is good, that you have to choose something awful? What do you do when you realize this only afterwards? One of the good things about this episode is how it applies this rule well. Burnham and Georgiou are each combating the Dreadful Algebra in the second half of this two-part pilot, starting with Burnham waking up nearly-exposed to vacuum and somehow finding a way to get shot into the working part of a ship in a fantastic sequence which neatly ties into the foreshadowing of the previous episode.

Burnham is a Spock for the modern generation. Human instead of half-Human, but both raised by Vulcans – with Burnham internalizing trauma at a deep level in the course of her life, after a Klingon attack takes away her parents. Confronted with a warlike Klingon, she responded. Did she know the weapon would kill him? Was it an accident? I'm not sure Burnham knows. This episode sketches more in depth the past between Burnham and Georgiou; we learn how Georgiou tried to groom Burnham for the role of Captain and was perhaps blinded by her own affection for her charge. When Georgiou confronts Burnham about her actions, after she escapes from the brig, Burnham can't even tell if the motivation for her act is rooted in logic or emotion. It's kind of a big breakdown from the whole 'I am perfect and judging everyone else' position which Burnham held when she arrived at the ship. Does Sarek getting Burnham to act and try to help Georgiou despite Burnham's internal struggles and despair imply there's a lot more to this character than we see here? I don't know, but the connection between the two was effective.

Georgiou isn't forced to analyze her actions with the same depth as Burnham. She obviously wrestles just as much with notions of right and wrong, with imprisoning Georgiou in the brig. The fact that her ship is attacked – that Burnham is correct in her analysis of Klingon behavior – just makes her even more frustrated because Georgiou's truly trying to uphold the standards of Starfleet and continue to spread the Federation. This means the ends cannot justify the means. Redemption is definitely a part of Georgiou's worldview, however – and when the chips are totally down, Georgiou has no problem with beaming over onto the Klingon ship with Burnham to try and take T'Kuvma alive, and is actually pretty fantastic in all the action scenes, as you might expect from Michelle Yeoh.

I wasn't too enthralled with the Klingons in the last episode, but this episode, I thought they brought them along far more. Last episode they seemed about on par with the worst of TOS: cheesy, shiny monsters, often exaggerating racial stereotypes. They hated a trite phrase, "We come in peace." The subtitles were annoying, especially if you watched with closed captions and a sound effect popped on screen. This episode gave the Klingons a little bit of depth, although the Maniacal Religiousish Leader is almost a Trek stereotype in itself. I loved the scene of their invisible ship slicing through the Admiral's and then flickering back. The rescuing of the dead was fantastic, and so was the death of T'Kuvma, played by Chris Obi. Whom do we seek. Kahless. How do we find him? Together. Give us light to see. Forever. Will he hide from us always? Never. This is a far more complex warrior culture than simply Argh! We shall conquer! Still, we never find out the meaning behind their hate for "We come in peace," and while I could possibly come up with a plotsplainer, it feels wrong to have to do so for the freaking pilot.

Georgiou's death was unexpected and frustrating. I really loved the dynamic between her character and Burnham, and I loved the fact that it was two badass women who jumped into the breach and tried to bring back a giant Klingon. It's clearly going to seriously impact Burnham, though. Who, after the crew escapes in a (very cool) pod scene, winds up standing for trial.

And Burnham pleads guilty to her role in all of it, and now sees herself as the enemy. And is sentenced to imprisonment for life. This final speech was badly captioned on the CBS AllAccess app, which frustrated me for 9.99 a month and at the very final moment of the show.

Commander's Log

I'm not sure about the whole thing with Sarek as a mystical advisory Pokémon. DS9, however, also started out with a lot of mysticism.

The body-bomb sequence was really well developed and kind of set Georgiou for me in a Picard-level Starship Captain place. Cool, inventive, caring almost to a fault...

The preview for the next episode isn't captioned, but shows Burnham being shipped to prison and experiencing a lot of weird stuff – and the return of the Klingons. Judging by this, Burnham is going to become an action hero.

I really want to learn more about all of the crew. Some of them don't get named in this episode, which is sad, but they all seemed earnest and interesting. From the preview, Doug Jones will be back as Lt. Saru.

This Trek had a very strong, diverse vibe. Both Captain and Commander were non-white women, who, yay, spoke to each other often about things that were not men. This is causing crankiness on the internet. This alone makes me want to give the show more of a chance.

I know the technology has changed or upgraded or whatever, but isn't this a new timeline or something with JJ Abrams? Regardless, I feel this is a meh point for me. We're in 2017 and we can envision basic technology that people wouldn't have come up with during TOS. Plus, based on my Understanding of Humanity, I could easily see an episode where they give up the holographic technology because it's bad for you and radiation or something, so they have to go back and develop special rooms, or whatever. Connect it intelligently enough and it looks like scifi.

The captions were a big problem for many Deaf and hard of hearing people online. Look, if you want to build an audience, you can't get people to risk ten bucks then slap them in the face. The AllAccess app is the biggest obstacle to my liking this show at the moment, that and the knowledge that it's included with Netflix in Every. Other. Country. In. The. World.

Overheard by the Universal Translator

Sarek: Behave.

Sarek: No matter your shame, gather your strength. Find a way to help those who need you.

T'Kuvma: There is no honor without unity. There is no home for any of us, unless it is shared by all. [Sidenote: This quote makes me feel it's possible there might be Deaf people in Klingon worlds.]

Overall

Much more love from me than I felt at the end of the first episode.

The second episode has me hooked, as long as they can keep the writers away from the Hokey Hooch they were clearly drinking when they wrote the Klingons during the previous episode.

The best parts of this episode were Burnham and Georgiou, for me; my question is, now that half the team is killed off, how can the show continue its momentum? I was going to go with four, but the captioning issues made me go with... three out of five body-bombs.

#Star Trek #Star Trek Discovery #Michael Burnham #Saru #Philippa Georgiou #DIS #Disco #ST:Disc #Star Trek Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

6 notes · View notes

orhelponefaintingrobin · 7 years ago

Text

Star Trek: Discovery - Episode 5 - “Choose Your Pain”

It’s Star Trek time again!

Going straight into my main point, I definitely enjoyed this episode more than last week’s. While I don’t want to criticize the show too heavily for having one slightly off episode (and even then it was only a couple of issues), “Choose Your Pain” definitely went back to what I had enjoyed so much about “Context is for Kings”.

Again, we’re faced with an episode that does an excellent job of matching some more classic Star Trek ideas with a fresh set of concepts.

“Choose Your Pain” was a well-executed example of an often-used episode, in the ‘Captured crewmember’ style (TNG’s “Chain of Command”, DS9’s “The Search”, Voyager’s “Renaissance Man”, and probably others I’ve missed). And it really worked. Captain Lorca’s capture by the Klingons left us with two distinct plot points, both of which provided a way to push the plot forward in a nicely paced way. We had Lorca on the Klingon ship, which provided us with a way to introduce Lieutenant Tyler, a regular cast member who we hadn’t seen for the first four episodes and Harry Mudd, a classic character who I admit I don’t know much about, but who was entertaining enough to watch through Rainn Wilson, not to mention giving us our first proper insight into Lorca’s backstory. Meanwhile, on-board Discovery, the need to rescue the Captain gave us so much character information, from reinforcing Michael’s sympathy for the Tardigrade, to Stamets’ less grumpy side, to Saru’s desire to be a good First Officer and, in his potential future, Captain.

In my opinion, they totally nailed all of that character development in this episode especially. We’d seen glimpses of Stamets’ sensitive side, his desire to help people, last week, when Lorca played the transmissions from the colony, but this week pushed that one step further, with him putting himself at risk so that the Tardigrade didn’t have to be hurt any more. The conversation at the end between Michael and Saru was brilliant, and really expanded their dynamic past them just arguing all the time. We got our first look at Stamets and Culber’s relationship, in a really nicely written, very natural feeling way.

I’m glad we’ve finally met Lieutenant Tyler, and I do think I’m going to really enjoy him as a character. Shazad Latif seems to be a really nice fit for the role, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where he goes as a character. I don’t have too much more to say about him yet, but I do want to point that out. I think he’ll be interesting.

As far as smaller details, the only think that really stands out is THAT KLINGON INTERIOR. Fine, I guess if you want to be picky, the EXTERIOR didn’t look a whole like the D7 that they said it was (I mean, given the D7 is a fundamentally crappy design, and the old long-necked Klingon ship design has been proven nicely by the Sarcophagus ship’s neck getting so badly damaged, I think it’s a wise design, but I know some people are going to be annoyed by it), the interior felt perfect to me. That almost sewer-esque feel absolutely screams Klingon to me, and I appreciate that.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode. I don’t feel like there’s much else I can say past that. I watched it, I enjoyed it, and I’m still excited about next week’s episode.

And, as usual, specific Spoilery comments under the cut.

Line of the week (Screw it, I might as well make that a thing): “This is so fucking cool” Yes, they said “fucking” in Star Trek. And from Cadet Sylvia Tilly, of all people. It was kind of perfect. I approve.

The Tardigrade lives! I was expecting this plot line to be spread out for a couple more episodes, but I am glad they didn’t drag it out further than they needed to. It’s clear that the writers have a good grasp of how long plot points need to be dragged out, and I’m glad they didn’t overplay it. I was also expecting to just end up dying, so it’s nice to see that the show isn’t adverse to happy endings.

Still think Burnham’s going to end up in command in the future, especially with the conversation she had with Saru at the end. It’ll cause nice conflict, if it ever does happen, though I’d doubt it before the second season at the earliest.

And the final scene! Stamets and Culber! As I said, I’m really glad that for something as high-profile as Star Trek’s first ongoing same-sex relationship, they’re playing it just like they would any other relationship. I assume now they’ve started it, we’ll see a lot more of it, and I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes. But, from this first scene, I think my hopes that we were going to see something similar to The O’Brien family in DS9 seem accurate.

So. Don’t. Kill. Culber.

Also I am a little confused about his position. He talked about the CMO, so he clearly isn’t in charge, but his badge reads as his rank being equivalent to a Lieutenant Commander. That means that the CMO is probably ranked Commander, which, I think, is higher than we’ve ever seen in someone of their position before. Just a weird little observation. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if a confrontation with Klingons left Culber in that position anyway.

#Star Trek Discovery #Star Trek #Star Trek Discovery Spoilers

6 notes · View notes

sleepymarmot · 8 years ago

Text

DS9 season 2 liveblog

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

The Homecoming

They're opening the season with a three-parter about Bajoran-Cardassian problems, and Dukat will show up right in the first episode? The writers are not wasting time...

Sisko's unusually cheerful.

Again, I'm amazed at this new heroic O'Brien who is so unlike the background character I've watched press buttons for years.

One does not simply walk into a Cardassian camp! Unless you're these two.

This is completely crazy! What'll stop the Cardassians from destroying their ship?

Just as I was going to say "Why not beam the wounded right from the runabout?", they actually do so -- but just after exiting it. Is there any in-universe reason behind it, or just the ease of fiming?

Why is Dukat being so friendly? Maybe he has spies among the freed Bajorans? If so, it better not be Li Nalas himself...

Bashir you're embarrassing yourself -_-

Quark, why are you always such an ass to your brother? Is that really necessary?

Poor guy.

Oooookay?? The previous scene made me completely trust him, but now my suspicions are stronger than ever. He's replacing Kira? Seriously? That has got to be someone's plan.

Well, this episode was meaty. And it really seems like the show is finding its feet -- unlike Duet, this episode didn't remind me of the other series and feels uniquely DS9.

The Circle

Aw, Odo's being a good friend! I don't remember him ever becoming so agitated before.

Vedek Winn as guest star? *grinds teeth in advance*

what a mess... I don't know if it's funny or sad. What a contrast to Data's friendly, nice and organized goodbye party :D

"These are my... these are my friends"

Do the Prophets really need to show her this sexy crap? Also, I'm too faceblind, is the guy in the vision the freedom fighter or the priest?

Odo and Quark!

I don't understand, which of these two is trying to convince the other to support them? And I don't like how blatantly evil they act.

AUGHHHH NOT A STUPID STARFLEET ADMIRAL AND THE PRIME DIRECTIVE!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!! GET THIS CRAP AWAY FROM ME!

(Seriously though, you say "Prime Directive", I hear "stupid bureaucratic crap that gets in the way of doing the obviously right thing". Either retire it or write it better, dammit!)

The Siege

Okay, I might change my mind by the end of the episode, but this might be the strongest of the multi-episode stories so far.

Aww Nog

"The Cardies" haha

Ugh, don't do the "wife asks husband not to be a hero" thing

The freedom fighter becomes a leader for real!

Sisko and Bashir turn and walk away in sync lol

"Is that a spider or a dog?"

Please stop ruining your engaging story with scenes about cartoonish villains...

I've... actually completely forgotten that O'Brien had been in the Cardassian war until this very moment. That's probably why he has been so opinionated, not just because of Picard.

That's it? Kinda underwhelming.

Ugh, killing Li Nalas? I didn't expect this show to cling so hard to status quo...

The first episode was the most impactful, but the entire story is still very impressive, epic and engaging!

Invasive Procedures

End of previous episode: Everyone happily returns after evacuation! Beginning of this episode: The station has been evacuated

Quark and Odo: *bicker* O'Brien: Ughhhh get a room already

Previous episodes: main characters defeat the forces of the entire Bajor This episode: DS9 is easily hijiacked by a handful of mercs & amateurs

That's an impressive "As you know" speech, Dax

When will poor Jadzia get an episode that's not about her being victimized and quietly accepting death?

Yes, I get it, the entire thing is just a plot device to show us Dax without Jadzia (and hopefully, Jadzia without Dax, if she'll be awake for it?), get on with it please

I hope the second half of the episode is about Dax working against the antagonist literally from the inside

Well, it's pretty disappointing that Dax by themself has so little personality and moral compass. I guess Sisko was all this time really friends with just Curzon and Jadzia, not Dax. Honestly, it's easier to forgive Quark (who sort of redeemed himself with an amusing scene) than Dax after this episode.

I was planning to go to bed after this one, but hell, I need to wash down this nonsense

Cardassians

I see Bashir has gained a lot of confidence since Past Prologue

"I am no more a spy than you are--" "A doctor"

I guess not everyone is fine with strangers touching them haha

"To us, he isn't even one of them any more" uh.....

"They won't hurt you. They're humans, they're not Cardassians" jfc...

"Don't apologize. It's been the high point of my day. DON'T DO IT AGAIN."

(Sisko seems to chew out Bashir more often than others. Is Bashir just the most undisciplined?)

Oh, here we go, O'Brien's anti-Cardassian racism again, makes sense for it to be in this episode

Poor Keiko, she's trying so hard

Miles is getting over himself! I'm proud of him

Bashir is learning to yell at people! Two episodes in a row now.

Um, Miles, I don't think it's a great idea to tell these things to the boy's father...

Dukat's neck scared me. is that normal

GOD IT'S EVEN WEIRDER FROM THE FRONT why am I so bothered by this lmao. honestly was their casting requirement "not only be able to look ominous without actually doing anything, but to have an extremely long neck so we could sculpt interesting things around it"? i'm sorry i'm gonna shut up about this now

Garak if you hold that satisfied smile for some time more you're going to turn into a child-drawn picture of a sun

I love that Dukat doesn't even bother to finish the conversation, he just turns around and leaves without a word the moment it becomes clear that he lost

Ugh, poor boy... What a choice. Abusive family he loves and considers his own or the planet of strangers from an unfamiliar culture he hates, both claiming to love him and expecting him to identify with them? Even if they didn't tell who took him in the end -- he gets a bad deal either way.

it's much more easier to take Garak seriously when he's not dressed like a grandma who stopped giving a fuck 20 years ago. that's probably why he does dress like this, though... but shouldn't that hurt his reputation as a tailor?

This episode was awesome! Exploration of social issues, family drama, political intrigue -- all tightly wound together and making perfect sense. So far the Cardassian stories are the highlight of the show, I hope it's going to stay this way.

It's really weird how Bashir changed between seasons. He hasn't gotten a lot of screentime apart from this episode, but he seems less naive, awkward and bouncy, he's grown more confident, and the crush on Jadzia has disappeared without a trace. Tbh I'm kind of disappointed -- I was expecting a smoother character arc that would let him grow before our eyes and phase out his immature traits one by one. Same goes for his relationship with Garak -- we've only seen their meeting and now they act like besties, how did they get here?

No, wait, let me get back to the plot of the episode. So Dukat had a politician's child kindapped just in case that politician becomes his opponent at some indefinite point in the future, so that he could go through another complicated scheme to humiliate him? Had he absolutely nothing better to do?!! Did he arrange something like this for everyone who could ever possibly cross him?

Melora

Um, Julian, that sounded a bit too much like Geordi's style of creepy almost-stalking...

Wait, Melora is Grace Holloway? :D I didn't recognize her until the familiar name appeared on screen.

She complains about being treated differently and about following the same rules as everyone else in the same breath. Did the writers make her hypocritical on purpose?

Why is he doing this? Is he actually interested in her as a woman? Does he want to help her acclimatize? Or to put her in her place?

Okay, the low gravity scene is pretty cute even if it doesn't make much sense

Daphne Ashbrook in all your fandoms, kissing all of your pretty Doctors

so far it seems like in season 2 the good episodes are better than in season 1, but the mediocre ones are worse

god, the writing and design are so bad, I don't want to list everything that doesn't make sense to me, let's just move on

Rules of Acquisition

I was tired but the plot twist woke me up!!

Dax is so sweet

Poor Pel :( Shitty Ferengi values win again I guess

Well, I'm glad he took a stand after all. And that they kissed. HELP I'M HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT FERENGI ROMANCE

Necessary Evil

Aw, Sisko called Rom "a family friend"

...so do Odo and Sisko perform the bad cop-good cop routine often?

yoo a flashback! I was wondering how Dukat was going to fit into this

"Cardassian neck trick" I... think I've already said enough on the subject lol

First meetings!

First meetingS!

I was distracted for some reason and didn't appreciate this episode enough :/ But it was very good!

Second Sight

Yikes Sisko don't embarrass yourself

"She's a married woman" "That would have never stopped Curzon" ew

ah I've missed the starship uniforms

what a boring episode. can we stop with the love interests of the week, please? I don't understand why the writers are suddenly forcing them so hard this season, and watching three of these in one day has turned my brain into soup. okay, Rules of Acquisition worked, but Melora and this episode were terrible!

(only pros: gorgeous woman, gorgeous dress)

Sanctuary

What was even the point of the universal translator not working for a while? This had nothing to do with the story, and the only thing it did was to remind the viewer how implausible the entire concept is.

Second mention of the Dominion -- I guess we'll meet them in the season finale?

Yep, I'd be surprised if the promised land didn't turn out to be Bajor

Bajoran Leia!

Wait, why is famine a problem? Why can't the Federation just provide Bajor with replicators? Prime Directive again? I mean, they almost seem to want me to ask this question by cutting right to refugees in front of a food replicator.

Why are they so attached to the idea it MUST be Bajor? Ugh, I hate these stories.

Rivals

Are you implying that El-Aurians have supernatural abilities and all this time people confided in Guinan not because she's charming and wise but because she mind-controlled them?

Julian is a NERD and Miles is regretting all of his life choices that led to this point

(Gosh, I didn't realize how much I've missed scenes where the main characters just hang out together off-duty)

8 minutes into the episode and I still have no idea what it's about

Are you saying that O'Brien and Bashir's tennis rivalry is legitimately the B-plot because I'm really into it

"Not in this space-time continuum you won't"

oh my goooood

wait a sec, the listener is only figuring it out NOW?! h o w

finally, a really fun silly episode!

The Alternate

Wait, so when Odo is in humanoid form, does he see and hear like us, or "percieve" like in liquid form? Does he have 360 degree vision?

Put it back! This is either a defense mechanism or the environment needs this column to function for some reason; beam it back down

So Bashir's crush on Dax isn't dead? We haven't seen it for so long, I thought it was over. But why is he monologuing? that's just bad writing.

plot twist! D:

god, this doctor is so creepy with his Measure of the Man reenaction

poor Odo is literally having a meltdown :(

Armageddon Game

Another O'Brien and Bashir episode, nice!

Poor Keiko

Bashir's speech about wife and children at home is weirdly sexist, especially since the previous episode re-established his interest in Dax, and his previous romantic involvement this season was a fellow Stafleet officer too -- he should have the opposite problem (which was already discussed in "Melora")!

aw Quark, you don't have to hide behind the Rules of Acquisition to admit you care

Whispers

Everyone around seemed to be acting like he smells bad, does this mean that's actually true?

"It's not doctors I have a problem with, it's--" "You, Julian"

jfc Miles, she's your wife, you should try to talk at least to her

Quark can't name a rule of acquisition by number? alright, for the first time in the episode I believe someone is fake

O'Brien is a badass

Are they absolutely sure the dead one is the clone and the real one takes his place, not the other way around? That was an awfully convenient excuse to shoot a Starfleet officer point blank without anyone asking questions...

Poor communication kills. At first it seems like something is wrong with O'Brien, but since people refuse to talk to him about it, he becomes convinced literally everyone else is conspiring against him -- and turns out, no, the problem was with him after all! And then they kill him off for no reason just to maintain status quo and avoid the Thomas Riker situation. They could have told him at literally any point instead of being so stupidly vague, but no, gotta keep the plot moving for 45 minutes! Before they found the real O'Brien they could have arrested the clone and told him everything, I'm sure O'Brien would understand; and after they rescued the real one, they could have just transmitted the image, if they're so averse to words. And after acting so stupid, as a final insult the other characters keep talking over their poor dying friend in third person like complete jerks. The episode is great... until that ending. Which just doubles my frustration, because it's one thing when a story is mediocre to begin with, but it really sucks when a wonderful episode is ruined by shitty conclusion.

Paradise

Yes, yes, I get it, this woman would do anything to keep this way of life and probably sabotaged the technology in the first place

What's wrong with replicated food? I hate this stupid trope

did she send the runabout away too?

what the FUCK

look, it might be useful social commentary to depict these rhetoric and tactics, but watching it is still torturous

it adds another level of creepiness that all this shit is done to a black protagonist -- was it intentional?

she's a more proficient torturer than the guy from Chain of Command

this woman is one of the most horrifying antagonists in all Star Trek. she actually believes all this shit

the engineer is supporting her? they all want to stay? for fuck's sake. she made them all see five lights

well. if the writers wanted to upset me, they succeeded

Shadowplay

"How fascinating" :D

"Women don't react to me in that manner" What about Lwaxana, then?

"After seven lifetimes, the impersonal questions aren't much fun anymore"

Yeah, why does a 15 year old need a job?!

The local guy is surprised at Odo beaming up and back down, like he's never seen anything like this before, and two minutes later says he has scanned for transporter activity

I like how the Prime Directive isn't even mentioned :D Or is it a human colony? But isn't this the Gamma Quadrant?

"You want me to spy on Quark for you?" so excited, bless him :D

backstory for that one time Miles played cello on TNG!

I'm glad these villagers are not as conservative and stubborn as people from the previous episode

I am reminded how much more modern DS9's storytelling is than TNG's every time they namedrop the Dominion -- like Doctor Who did ten years later with Bad Wolf, Torchwood etc

I knew he'd transform for the little girl eventually :') Odo reminded me of Data more than usual this time because of the friendship with a child and the episode's general similarity to Thine Own Self. But while Data gets along with kids partially thanks to his own childish (in a good way) qualities, Odo is more like a grumpy but caring grandpa -- I'd even say there's some First Doctor vibe.

(I'm a bit disappointed the episode didn't follow up on that promise of "Bashir practicing his purely theoretical spying skillz on Quark for Kira", because that sounds absolutely hilarious)

Playing God

Fun-loving cool senpai Jadzia is amazing

Interesting that Jadzia doesn't identify with Curzon at all in this case, despite presumably remembering their interaction from his point of view too

I didn't really understand how they solved the problem but I don't care

This is my favourite Jadzia episode so far. She finally got to show agency, have some fun, show off her professional skills, and explore her own identity (instead of standing around silently while other people explore it). And I love how other characters' scenes are vivid despite shortness: Quark playing tongo with Jadzia and giving well-intentioned if unhelpful advice to the initiate; Bashir's friendship with Jadzia and O'Brien; O'Brien calling across the border about his pest problem; Odo, Kira and Sisko's different approaches to the ethical dilemma.

Profit and Loss

Yesss! Cardassians!

Ooh Quark has romantic history with the pretty Cardassian woman?! This is getting better and better

A scene between Garak and Quark! is it my birthday?

"Personally, I find this style to be a bit too radical. But your friend seems the sort who appreciates that kind of thing" Does he know everything and everyone?! Though come to think of it, this shouldn't have surprised me at all -- even regardless of special channels Garak may use, these dissidents might be well-known to the point that their info is freely available on something like stateenemies.gov.car/wanted

I love how he casually rips an expensive dress to make his point

Passionate lover Quark is so strange to see

Odo's good at playing hard to get

lmao I've waited so long for someone to finally to hug Odo and... :D I do also love his relationship with Quark but I never expected these two things to intersect :D

so, did Garak change his mind on the fly or was he just stalling until that guy comes and can be disposed of?

alright, I amend my previous statement about one-episode love interests: Quark is allowed to have them, if all women who fall for him continue to be this awesome

Blood Oath

What, the holosuites have no sound isolation?! If so, who would ever use them for anything more... private than a recreation of a famous battle?

These Klingons have strange hair

It's so nice to see a young, human-looking woman as an equal to three old Klingons

ah bat'leth fighting, I didn't realize how I've missed it

-- and that young, human-looking woman is more of an old-fashioned honorable Klingon than the rest of them

what an outfit

I'm glad the Klingon interpreted her hesitation so favorably

*reads TVTropes* Wait, all these three are from TOS?! Damn... I could barely tell them apart. I really liked the episode, but turns out I didn't appreciate it nearly enough. Time for a little TOS rewatch?

The Maquis 1

What does the word Nor mean? Terok Nor, Bok'Nor...

The Vulcan woman looks great; nice dress.

"Jake-o" aww

Do Cardassians have a thing for showing up right in your quarters unexpectedly?

"We'll need one of your runabouts" "Where are we going?" Nice one, Sisko

"So you turn off my controls so I don't have enough light to take my photograph?" :D

"Education is power. Joy is vulnerability" Dukat is being very quotable today?

"Of all the humans I've met you strike me as the most joyless and the least vulnerable" "I am when I'm with you"

Honestly it's as if they are writing Sisko and Dukat's interactions for me personally

I like how the Vulcan is taking Quark's courtship at face value

Wait, is Gul Evek that reasonable guy from Journey's End?

I'm starting to understand Preemptive Strike better -- so it all took place in the demilitarized zone? That makes sense. (How did I miss that?)

"I was looking forward to showing you more ways to mix business with pleasure" "Perhaps in the future. I do find you... intriguing, Quark" im screaming hooly shit I'd never have guessed that Quark of all people would be the chick magnet #1 on this station?? how did he manage to meet a woman this line would actually work on

good shit good shit

The Maquis 2

Sisko gives a show-defining speech!

"Vulcans are a species that appreciate good ears"

something tells me Dukat wasn't the one supplying weapons and the Central Command is trying to kill two birds with one stone -- oh look, this lie was so obvious that for once the characters saw through it right away too

"The Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive"

Interesting, Dukat suddenly started acting in a theatrical manner I've only seen in Garak before. Some Cardassian cultural thing?

Haha, I didn't even realize where Sisko was leading the conversation! He's excellent in this story

"With that kind of firepower, the Bajorans could have launched a full-scale assault on Cardassia" "And lost"

Damn, Dukat really has his Intimidate skill maxed out! Sisko fails the Paragon check, Dukat passes the Renegade check.

Finally we see someone explain to a Vulcan why they're being illogical instead of making some bullshit reference to emotion. I love you Quark

the only bad thing about this two-parter is that it kinda made me like the Totalitarian Lizard Man a bit too much??? how dare you. let me go back to my wholesome crushes on Bashir and Jadzia before I start stanning or something

oh, and also I hoped this episode would make the Maquis more sympathetic so I could feel better about Ro Laren leaving Stafleet for them... nnnot much.

The Wire

What a great episode!! I wasn't liveblogging at all because it was too intense. I don't even feel the need to comment on drama or character development -- the story and acting speak for themselves.

Alright, how the hell did Bashir reach Tain? How does one get the home address of the former head of secret service of a foreign empire?! And how did Bashir manage to convince Sisko to authorize this stunt and give him the runabout -- or did he steal it?

The "Elim" reveal isn't really a surprise after you've spent some time near a fandom where people tag characters by full name...

What interests me now: is Garak going to act differently now that he's not keeping himself drugged? Will he go through withdrawal? In the final scene he pretends everything is Back To Normal, but... Or was the table-flipping scene the extent of his withdrawal symptoms?

Another disjointed thought: this is a wonderful example of a satisfying hurt/comfort story

Star Trek has some amazingly intense dramas for two actors. The Most Toys, Chain of Command, Duet... This one is different because in order to bring the two characters together and at the same time isolate them from the rest of the world, instead of captivity it uses doctor-patient relationship. Oh, another story from a different fandom it reminds me of, now that I think of it: Scherzo.

Crossover

Lmao it's nice that even after leveling up at unstoppable determination and compassionate badassery in the previous episode, Bashir still can be a ridiculous dork

...though it is pretty jarring that right after a high drama where he shows his capacity for patience and caring, and greatly deepens his relationship with someone, the next episode opens with the awkwardest attempt at befriending (and flirting?)

I didn't expect Garak to appear in two episodes in a row!

Why is Mirror Kira walking like this...

I started laughing at "I don't have a designation, sir" because my mind immediately went to "There's no need to call me sir, professor"

Female Cardassian guard! And Kira called herself attractive, heh.

Mirror Quark is dressed so poorly...

Okay, Mirror Kira definitely wants to fuck herself -- wait, that's actually canon? Do all evil Kiras hit on women? I wish they'd let our Kira do that too. I know it was written in the nineties, but I really don't appreciate the "evil=bi" trope

Well this was pretty weak. The only mirror character who works well, i.e. exposes the real character's darker side, is Odo. Kira looks just weak and hysterical. (Remember how I complained about her acting in the pilot?) Mirror Garak is actually less intimidating than our Garak.

The Collaborator

Can't say I'm very excited to see Vedek Bareil again. I liked him in his first episode for ideological reasons, but this romance...

Oh no, the Sydney Opera Hat is on the Promenade again? Is she planning another assassination?

"Welcome back. You're under arrest"

The episode was not engaging to watch, but I enjoyed the Grey Morality (tm).

Tribunal

These Cardassians have lost all shame, what do they think they're doing

Evek again, and I think another familiar face?

Yiiikes

Here comes the good cop

I'm glad they're not spending an entire episode on a Chain of Command remake.

Not telling the accused what they're charged with: a deliberate ploy to mess with their mind, or do the Cardassians not even bother to think about these things anymore?

Huh, Odo had a Cardassian rank that's still valid? That's useful.

Alright, but wasn't O'Brien still declared guilty? So the scheme to discredit the Federation worked?

Also, a missing molar isn't good evidence. Maybe it means that man was just captured and processed by the Cardassians, like O'Brien. And why would a spy alter his appearance but forget about this? You'd think humans and Cardassians have different enough teeth that he'd have to get dental implants anyway.

I found one good thing about the Cardassian "court"! The judge has fabulous hair.

The Jem'Hadar

Jake!

"I bet we'll have a great time!" "I know we will" Please don't say things like this in the opening scene of a season finale...

Aw poor Sisko :D

"Guess" "He said yes" "Guess again"

Aw Quark needs a hug

Aww kids

Aww Odo cares about Quark

"If the Dominion comes through the wormhole, the first battle will be fought here, and I intend to be ready for them." Well. That's a chilling line to end the season on.

As much as I like it when the Federation arrogance is called out, Quark's speech just doesn't work. "The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi. Greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget." Well, yeah! That was basically the original concept for their species! "Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi" -- so what? 24th century humans are disgusted by the atrocities of their ancestors, so why can't they also be disgusted by the exact same things perpetuated by their contemporaries? Domestic abuse and sexism are wrong, no matter who does it. Note how this entire speech sidesteps the violent misogyny, aka the Ferengi's most obvious appaling trait. This is like saying "Don't judge the Cardassian state for being totalitarian! That's just their culture, you don't understand!"

General impressions

Bashir and Jadzia finally got some character development!

I live for Cardassian episodes. It's fascinating to see a dystopia in the universe that started as a utopia, and see how characters from both sides deal with each other.

(Random thought: I want an AU episode like "Crossover" where another universe/timeline's Cardassia is a free state, and for a Cardassian viewpoint character our world is a nightmare scenario just like the Mirror Universe is for our heroes.)

I don't loathe Winn as much as I did in the first season finale. That makes her kind of underwhelming as a recurring antagonist. On the other hand, that might be a good thing, because getting so angry repeatedly couldn't have been good for my health. But because they're represented mainly by the hateful-but-not-enough Winn and the bland Bareil, the Bajoran affairs are usually not as gripping as the Cardassian. I hope to see more of their secular politics next season.

First season was very even; second has two irredeemably clumsy stories (Melora and Second Sight), but a growing number of outstanding ones, too.

First season was already an improvement over TNG in terms of serialization, and this one is better. Both multi-part stories are brilliant, too. I hope this trend continues.

A noticeable weakness in the first season was the mundanity of the Gamma Quadrant. No sense of wonder, no noticeably stranger aliens. The introduction of the Dominion and their overwhelming threat partially rectified that problem, bringing back some of the feeling from "Q Who". Yes, setting foot in a far corner of the galaxy should be awesome in both senses of the word, and lead the previously unimaginable dangers right back to your home.

The costume design has visibly improved in this season!

#star trek #ds9 #blah blah blah #if read more doesn't work for you i'm really really sorry #actually i just finished s3 so rereading this liveblog was amusing

1 note · View note